Based on Joe Hill’s short story by the same name, “Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story” (2025) is a fascinating watch. Writer-Director Natasha Kermani, with plenty of help from cinematographer Julia Swain, presents a languidly beautiful dissection of the long-term horror inflicted by the king of vampires himself, Count Dracula. It focuses on the Van Helsing family, two decades after the events of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” The film explores the psychological scarring of those events through the eyes of two Van Helsing boys, the sons of Abraham Van Helsing. All the while, the palpable shadowy aura of Dracula looms large.
Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story (2025) ‘Shudder’ Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
As mentioned before, two decades have passed since the events of “Dracula.” Although “Abraham’s Boys” mostly adheres to Stoker’s Dracula story, there is one significant change made here. Unlike the original text, here Mina Harker does not survive along with her then-husband, Jonathan. She becomes Mina Van Helsing (Jocelin Donahue) instead. It appears that Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Titus Welliver) married Mina after Dracula was vanquished. Years have passed, and the Van Helsings have settled in a remote valley in California, America. They have two sons, Max (Brady Hepner) and Rudy (Judah Mackey). Max is older, in his late teens. Rudy, on the other hand, seems to have just reached his teenage years.
The film starts with a shadowy, hooded figure attacking a woman walking alone quite near to the Van Helsings’ isolated place. Meanwhile, Abraham grows wary as plans for railroad construction are made by the government. The prospect of reconnecting with the rest of the world agitates him. One of the surveyors of the project, Eddie, meets with an accident. Eddie’s sister, Elsie (Aurora Perrineau), takes him to Abraham for treatment. Abraham saves the man, earning Elsie’s trust and gratitude.
Meanwhile, Mina, who was Dracula’s thrall, grows restless with fear and past trauma. Dracula, despite being gone, still holds a significant bond with Mina. Through her scattered behaviour, Mina starts to manifest Dracula’s vampiric synergy. Her love for her husband, whom she hitherto believed to be her savior, starts to waver. This angers Abraham and makes him more suspicious and vengeful than he already was. After listening to the stories, Max starts to dream about Dracula’s foreboding presence. Rudy, on the other hand, starts to hear voices and moanings from under the house.
As Mina’s health starts to deteriorate, Abraham starts his old trusted processes. He begins a blood transfusion. Terming Mina’s blood impure, Abraham seeks Max’s help to restore the purity. Max gives his blood to his mother. One day, while Mina is asleep and Abraham is out of the house, the two boys accidentally get inside their father’s study. They find a door there. A door opens onto a staircase that leads to a dark basement. They find the opening scene’s woman, who was abducted by the hooded figure, chained and asking for help. Before they could think about helping, Abraham steps in and drives a wooden stake through her chest.
Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story (2025) ‘Shudder’ Movie Ending Explained:
What Happened to Dr. Abraham Van Helsing?
Abraham, whom we initially presumed to be understandably world-weary and cautious, starts to show his mental scars. As the story progresses, it becomes transparent that Abraham did not come out as unscathed as he thought he had from his battle against Dracula. On the contrary, he was perhaps as affected as Mina was. The encounter left him with an extremely pessimistic view of the world. A world from which he needs to save his family. He started to see Dracula’s evil hand in almost everything, even in scientific progress, like the railroad construction. His empathetic nature was engulfed by a ruthless vendetta.
That is why he was convinced that the woman was turning into a vampire. He not only kills her, but also forces his two sons to do the same. Max, ordered by his father, drives the stake into the woman’s body one more time. Rudy becomes scared and tries to leave. Abraham forces him. This leads to an altercation between Max and Abraham. Max starts to doubt his father’s sanity. He suspects Mina might not be ill despite Abraham’s efforts. However, before Max can take any step, Mina finally relents and dies.
What Happened to Jonathan Harker?
The major deviation in the story is showing Mina marrying Abraham. The way Abraham talked, it seems that Jonathan did not survive the final battle against Dracula. That is why Mina became even more shattered. Perhaps out of sheer helplessness, she married Abraham. After Mina’s death, Arthur Holmwood (from the original story) comes to pay his respects. However, he confronts Abraham. He worries if Abraham’s extreme method was necessary when they had to kill Lucy Westenra, Holmwood’s wife. His doubts have started to impact his sanity. He questions Abraham’s methods.
Abraham gets angry and throws Holmwood out of his house. Max observes everything with doubts in his mind. Abraham asks Max to be more vigilant and more ruthless. He shows him photos of all the ‘vampires’ he has killed in his career. However, Max is not convinced that all of them were vampires. He suspects his father’s clouded judgment might have led to numerous innocent deaths. Max refuses to follow his father’s instructions, which include driving the railroad surveyors away. Abraham attacks him and locks him in the basement.
What Happens to Max and Rudy? Is Dracula Alive?
While Max tries to escape the basement, Abraham takes Rudy on his mission. It is revealed that Abraham was the hooded man all along. Once again, donning his grim reaper-ish outfit, he kills Eddie and kidnaps Elsie. He asks Rudy to kill Elsie, believing Elsie to be tainted. Rudy refuses and attacks Abraham instead. An enraged Abraham runs after Rudy. That is when Max, breaking out of his confinement, appears. In a bid to save Rudy, he beheads his father with an axe.
Initially, the hooded man was hinted to be a resurgent Dracula. However, Dracula does not return in this story. But that does not mean Dracula is not alive. His physical self is perhaps destroyed, yes. However, the spirit of Dracula lives in Abraham Van Helsing. Abraham, who suspected everyone else of carrying Dracula’s germs, was the one who caught the disease first — the virus that propagates the circle of violence that’s born out of extreme paranoia and a steadfast sense of duty to protect his family. Before dying, Abraham tells Max that his son finally understands what he felt all along, because Max was about to kill his father to save his brother. As the two brothers leave their imposed isolation, we can only hope Max has broken the vicious cycle. That is the only way Dracula can stay dead.
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